The Secret Ingredient
Illustrator
Trish Parcell
Publisher
Delacorte Press
Publication Year
2014
ISBN
9780385743327
Pages
243 pages
Genre
realism
Format
novel
Item Type
Fiction
Annotation
After a chance meeting with a psychic, Olivia, a teen cook living in Los Angeles with her two dads and misfit brother, finds a vintage cookbook with handwritten notes inside and pieces together a story that turns a normal summer into a search for her birth mother.
Grade Level
9-12
Diversity Topics
Family Relationships; LGBTQ (Gender and Sexuality); Adoption; Poverty; Gay/Lesbian; adopted teenager; adoptive fathers; birth mother; financial hardship; gay; gay fathers; gay adults; same-sex parents
Main Character
female teenager
Race/Ethnicities
White
Family Formation
two adoptive fathers
LGBTQ+
gay males
Awards
Lambda Literary Award, 2014, Finalist, LGBT Children's/Young Adult
Keywords
growing up; coming of age; cooking; new job; dog; restaurant; brother and sister relationship
Diversity Impact
direct
STARS Citation
Lewis, Stewart, "The Secret Ingredient" (2014). Diverse Families. 209.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/diversefamilies/209